Visions
by Emmi-chan
Summary: Amelia falls ill when the gang checks into an inn. Stuff happens. Read and review please!


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Author's notes: Well, here's another ficcy for you. After reading it over, the ending sounded kinda cheesy, but maybe that's just me being critical of my own work...I hope......I do not own the Slayers or N Sync's This I Promise You, lovely song that it is.

Cold, wet, and exhausted, the group walked into the inn. They were tracking a bunch of monsters that were roaming the area when they had gotten caught in the rain. So, they had headed to the nearest inn. Luckily, this one wasn't too far away.

"Thank goodness!" said Amelia, wringing her hair out.

"I'm starving," said Lina. "I'm ready for a seven-course meal!"

"Oh, only seven courses, Lina?" said Zelgadis sarcastically. He received a bop on the head from Lina, only to have her cry out in pain.

"Ow! Stupid, rock..."

Zelgadis chuckled. *Crazy nut*, he thought.

__

~When visions around you

Bring tears to your eyes

And all that surround you

Are secrets and lies~

A girl came into the room. "Welcome to my inn," she said. "Please make yourself at home. How many rooms do you need?"

Lina pooled out her well-earned money (a.k.a. stolen bandit loot). "Well, there's enough money here for four rooms," she said triumphantly. "And we're hungry, too!" Everyone vigorously nodded their heads in agreement. The girl gave them their room numbers and left to make their food.

The group chatted until the food came. Then Lina and Gourry began their never-ending squabble over the food. Amelia and Zelgadis simply ate their meals in silence. Amelia discreetly took a chicken leg from Lina's plate - she was too busy strangling Gourry to notice. 

Later that night, after everyone had gone to bed, Amelia was restless. She felt.....wrong. Something wasn't right. *_Maybe I'm coming down with something*,_ she thought. Deciding that wasn't going to keep her awake, she shut her eyes and went to sleep.

~I'll be your strength

I'll give you hope

Keeping your faith when it's gone

The one you should call

Was standing here all along~

Suddenly, Amelia was in the palace in Seyruun. "How'd I get here?" she wondered aloud. She wandered the empty halls, looking for someone to talk to, maybe to find out what was going on. It was very quiet, more than usual. Amelia was concerned. The princess looked out a window and saw that it was night.

A loud shriek was brought to Amelia's awareness. Amelia ran towards the direction of the screaming. It sounded choked and strangled. Amelia kept on running until she came to a room, door open a crack. Opening it further, she took a look inside.

In the corner of the room was a body, hanging by the neck from the ceiling. Blood dripped from numerous slashes, forming a puddle on the floor. The body was so mangled it was barely recognizable. But Amelia knew who it was. It was her mother.

Zelgadis was woken up by a noise. His sensitive ears picked up the sound of a soft scream and a whimper of fear. It seemed to be coming from the direction of Amelia's room. Zelgadis got out of bed and went over to his friend's room.

~_And I will take you in my arms_

And hold you right where you belong

'Til the day my life is through

This I promise you

This I promise you~

He knocked twice and heard no answer. Zelgadis opened the door and saw Amelia sitting up in bed. Her face was buried in her hands and her whole body was trembling.

"Amelia? Are you alright?"

She looked up. Her face was etched with fear. Amelia shook her head "no".

Zelgadis walked over to her and sat on the edge of the bed. "Did you have a nightmare?" he asked gently. Amelia looked at him solemnly. "It was too real," she said. "It wasn't a dream. A memory."

"Of what?"

Amelia was quiet. "My mother's death," she whispered. "It was exactly the way I witnessed it, only my sister wasn't in the dream."

Zelgadis didn't know what to say.

"But I don't understand," Amelia continued. "Why am I dreaming about it now? I never did before."

"I don't know Amelia," Zelgadis said finally. "But I think that you should try to put it aside and get some sleep. You could use the rest."

Amelia smiled at him shyly. "Thank you, Zelgadis. I appreciate it."

Zelgadis smiled back. "Goodnight," he said. He closed the door behind him.

*_He really can be so caring sometimes*,_ Amelia thought to herself. She laid her head back onto the pillow and went to sleep.

~_I've loved you forever_

In lifetimes before

And I promise you never

Will you hurt anymore~

She was in Seyruun again. At least, what was left of it. She gasped in horror as she walked through the charred and smoking remains of her home.

People screamed. Trolls, berserkers and high-ranking monsters destroyed everything in sight, but ignored her. Amelia tried to conjure up a spell to fight them, but it wouldn't work for some reason. From behind, a monster suddenly appeared. Amelia turned just in time to see it shoot a powerful spell at her.

Heart pounding, Amelia abruptly sat up in bed. *_Didn't I just go back to sleep?*_ she thought, confused. *_Two nightmares in a row? Must be a coincidence.*_ Amelia's heavy breathing went back to normal and she rolled over, closing her eyes. 

She got about five minutes of sleep that night. Each time she tried to go to sleep, she would have another nightmare, and would wake up, shaken.

The next morning, everyone was downstairs eating breakfast. Everyone but Amelia, that is.

"Where's Amelia?" Zelgadis wondered aloud. "She usually doesn't sleep this late."

"Maybe she's just taking an unusually long time washing up," Gourry suggested.

Just then, they noticed Amelia coming down the stairs. Puffy dark circles were present under her eyes and she was dragging her feet. Her friends watched as she yawned and collapsed into a chair.

~_I give you my word_

I give you my heart

This is a battle we've won

And with this vow

Forever has now begun~

"Rough night, Amelia?" asked Lina. 

Amelia nodded. "The worst," she responded. "Every time I tried to sleep..." Amelia stopped when she realized how wimpy it would sound if she told them she kept having nightmares.

"What?" Lina urged.

Amelia sighed. She had already told Zelgadis about it, might as well tell them all. "I would keep having nightmares, really horrible ones, and I'd wake up. I hardly got any sleep last night."

"No wonder you're so exhausted," Zelgadis mused. The group resumed their eating. Within, a few minutes, Amelia had fallen asleep on the table. Zelgadis noticed this and pointed it out to the others. "Poor kid," he said, looking at her. "Those nightmares must really be horrible. Last night, I thought I heard a scream so I went in to check on her. She was all scared and shaking, and she told me that she had dreamt about the death of her mother."

"You went in to check on her? Isn't that adorable?" Lina teased. The chimera cleared his throat and proceeded to stare at his empty plate, slightly pink. Lina chuckled at him. All of a sudden, Amelia snapped up, totally panic-stricken. Everyone looked at her, deeply concerned.

"Hey, you ok?" Gourry asked gently. Amelia almost looked like she was having a heart-attack. Concerned, Zelgadis got up and hurried over to her side. There was pain in her eyes.

"What's happening to me?" she said shakily. She wrapped her arms around Zelgadis' waist, letting the silent tears fall and seep into his shirt. Zelgadis ran his fingers through her raven hair, doing his best to comfort her.

~_Just close your eyes_

Each lovin' day

And know this feeling won't go away

'Till the day my life is through

This I promise you

This I promise you~

Over the next few hours, Amelia's condition deteriorated. They found her collapsed in a heap on the floor, either in a deep sleep or passed out, as she couldn't be awakened. Zelgadis carried her to bed while Lina flew to town to find a doctor. Something was definitely wrong with Amelia. Her face looked pained and her forehead was damp from perspiration. She was terribly pale.

Lina returned with a doctor to find Gourry and Zelgadis sitting in Amelia's room, hoping for a change in her condition. There was none. The doctor peered over at Amelia's face and said, "I'm going to examine her now. Could you step out of the room, please?" They walked out of the room and waited in the hall. 

"This isn't good," Lina said, pacing. "I'm worried about her."

"Me too, Lina," said Gourry. Zelgadis didn't say anything. He was staring hard at the door, as if waiting for it to open and announce his friend's death.

The door did open. The doctor came out, no expression on his face. The three were tense and anxious to hear the result. 

"Your friend has a curse on her," said the doctor.

"A curse? What kind of a curse?" asked a very alert Zelgadis. 

"It's a mind-manipulating curse," the doctor went on. "It presents the victim's worst fears and horrors in the form of realistic dreams, causing trauma. The victim becomes weaker and weaker until they simply waste away." Amelia's friends were shocked.

"How can you say that so bluntly?" Lina yelled, grabbing the doctor's collar.

"You mean that she's gonna die?" Gourry asked, open-mouthed. Zelgadis glared at him and Lina roughly kicked him where it hurts. 

Ignoring the whimpering swordsman on the floor, Zelgadis asked, "Is there anything that can be done?"

The doctor pulled Lina off of him and nodded. "There is a way," he said slowly. "But, to break the curse, you must find whoever set the curse and destroy them."

There was silence.

~_Over and over I fall _

When I hear you call

Without you in my life, baby

I just wouldn't be living at all~

Then Lina perked up. "Hey," she said. "You can't just slap a curse on someone without being connected to them somehow. How could Amelia have been cursed? She isn't missing anything as far as I know."

The doctor nodded again. "That's correct," he replied. "For this particular curse, the victim must consume a potion. Once it has been consumed, the inflictor must recite a spell, and the curse will be activated."

"You sure know a lot about curses," commented Gourry.

"I studied them in med school," the doctor responded.

"But Amelia didn't drink any potion," protested Lina. "Unless..." She gasped. "What if someone put that stuff in her food last night?"

"So whoever made the food put that curse on her!" exclaimed Gourry, catching on.

"Looks like we have our suspect," growled Lina, that fierce look of determination in her eyes. She grabbed Gourry's arm and shot downstairs, dragging him behind. Zelgadis walked into Amelia's room and sat beside her bed. Her color had drained so much that she was almost gray. 

"Can she hear me?" Zelgadis quietly asked the doctor. 

He shrugged. "Perhaps. The girl may slip in and out of consciousness but still be too weak to open her eyes. You can't hurt anything by trying, though."

"Thank you," Zelgadis said. "I suppose you can leave now. You've been a big help to us."

"I try," said the doctor, smiling. "I hope the girl gets better."

He left.

"So do I," Zelgadis said to himself.

~_And I will take you in my arms_

And hold you right where you belong

'Til the day my life is through'

This I promise you, baby~

He hated seeing Amelia so sick, so helpless. "Amelia," he said softly, and noticed her breath quicken. He took her hand. "Amelia, you have to try to fight this. I don't know what you're dreaming, but if any of it's past experiences, then it isn't anything you haven't seen before. And the stuff that isn't, well, please, you have to fight it. These dreams are eating out your soul, and I don't want you to die. We're doing what we can to help you; you have to do your part, too. Be strong, Amelia." He may have imagined it, but Zelgadis thought he felt Amelia's fingers slightly curl around his hand.

A sudden blast of fire got his attention. He stood up quickly and ran out into the hall. Lina and Gourry came yelling up the stairs, closely followed by a large black and green monster with several long arms tipped with deadly yellow claws. "You can't run from me!" she cackled evilly.

"Who the hell is this?" the chimera asked, taking position.

"The innkeeper from last night!" Lina panted, a spell forming in her hands. "A monster! She poisoned Amelia's food!"

"Not quite," said the monster, dodging Lina's fireball. "I poisoned a piece of your food. I tried to set the curse on you, but apparently you aren't the one who ate that piece, now are you?"

"Amelia stole my food???" Lina raged. "If she lives, I'm gonna kill her! And just why did you want to put a curse on me?"

"You've caused a lot of trouble for us monsters in the past. I was hoping to teach you a little lesson. But, this way seems a lot more fun. Die, Lina Inverse!" She threw a spell at them. Zelgadis quickly put up a shield. The spell reflected. Gourry whipped out his Sword of Light and charged towards the monster, slicing her arm off. Lina and Zelgadis ran towards her, each with a spell in hand.

"Burst Rhondo!"

"Blam Blazer!"

The monster screamed in agony as she was blown apart.

"Alllright! We did it!" Lina danced around sporting victory flags.

"Hey guys, what about Amelia?" wondered Gourry. Everyone looked at each other and rushed over to Amelia's room. She was sitting up in bed, rubbing her eyes.

"Amelia, you're ok!" Lina went over to give her friend a hug. Amelia replied with a rather dazed "uh huh."

Zelgadis caught Amelia's eye and said, "May I have a moment alone with Amelia, please?"

"Oh, a moment alone, huh? Think we can trust them alone, Gourry?" Lina said, smirking.

"What?"

Zelgadis blushed and glared at Lina as she walked out with a very mischievous smirk on her face. Gourry, confused, scratched his head and followed Lina out the door.

Zelgadis sighed and turned to Amelia. She was still sitting in bed, watching him intently. As he walked to her side, a blush began to spread across Amelia's nose bridge. The chimera sat down on the edge of the bed, very close to her.

~_Just close your eyes_

Each lovin' day

And know this feeling won't go away

Every word I say is true

This I promise you

Every word I say is true

This I promise you

I promise you~

"When you had that curse on you, Amelia," Zelgadis began. "I just...I dunno. You were lying there, pale as can be, you looked like the slightest breeze would steal you away from us. I was very worried." *_Did I just say that?*_ he thought all of a sudden. 

"You were?" Amelia asked in a dreamy yet attentive tone. Then she lowered her voice. "Thank you. It really means a lot to me to hear you say that."

Zelgadis blushed upon hearing her gratitude. Amelia giggled. She then kissed Zelgadis lightly on the cheek, making him turn several shades of red. He smiled at Amelia, and then leaned in to kiss her.

"Ahem."

Their lips had just touched when they turned their heads towards the doorway to find the source of the sound.

"If you two are done smooching, I'd like to kill Amelia for stealing my food now," said Lina, tapping her foot impatiently.

Amelia and Zelgadis exchanged looks and quickly ducked as a large and fully formed fireball came their way.


End file.
